Witch Doctor
by Simply Rexene
Summary: An accidental murder has teenager Kairi Scott on the run from everyone, including herself. However, when a quirky young witch doctor offers her a new beginning, she finds out what starting over really means. (Rated M for a reason... read at your own discretion.)
1. Chapter One

**A/N:** Welcome to the darkest parts of my mind… where dreams become fanfiction. …No seriously, I came up with this entire concept because of a dream I had last night. Don't worry, I'm still working on the sequel to Beast in the Basement, another of my fictions that stemmed from a dream, but I needed a little break from it.

So just a warning, this fic is going to start out a little heavy. Don't let it turn you away, though! The people I've talked to about it already are super excited to see where it'll go. Hopefully you will be too!

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 **Chapter One**

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"I'm worried about him, Selphie… he never would have done something like this before."

"Well don't color me surprised… Riku has been nothing but a jerk lately. I don't really like hanging out with him anymore," my best friend held nothing back as she slammed my boyfriend.

I sighed, poking at the discolored bruise forming on my cheek and cringing, "I don't really either… I just can't figure out what happened, though. He used to be so sweet and caring! Remember when we were kids?"

"You know I even saw him fighting with Sora the other day? Like… when did those two drift so far apart?" she wondered.

"I dunno, Selph… ever since he turned 18 it's like he's another person. Like, what? Now that he's a man he can begin his descent into darkness? I don't even know who he is anymore…"

She thought for a moment, "Well… are you going to break up with him?"

I switched my phone to the other ear as I got into my car, "No… I'm going over to his house now to try and talk with him. Maybe if I just let him know what he's turning into… maybe he'll see it and stop."

"Or maybe he'll hit you again," she reminded me, though the throbbing pain in my cheek would be reminder enough.

"I'll be careful," I promised, "I'm not going to let that happen again."

She let out a sigh, "I hope that's true, Kairi. You're too pretty to be wearing bruises like that."

"Maybe he'll see it and apologize?" I offered, honestly having no idea what I was about to walk into.

"Well… I hope for your sake that you're right. I gotta go… Good luck, Kai."

"Thanks, Selphie. I'll call you later."

I tossed my phone onto the passenger's seat, turning down Riku's street. He only lived a couple blocks away from me, but it was too dark out to walk there already. My heart was pounding as I pulled into the driveway and noticed that his parents weren't home. Neither of their cars were there… but his was in it's usual spot.

I became increasingly more nervous as I approached the front door and rang the bell a few times, sending him a text that I was there. He never used to care when I dropped in on him, but… he wasn't the same Riku that I used to love. I don't know what happened. It was like he just snapped one day and opened his heart to darkness.

It was a couple of minutes before I finally heard him approach the door, but what was waiting on the other side was something that I hadn't been prepared for. "Kairi… the fuck are you doing here?"

My eyes immediately darted to the bottle of whiskey clutched in his fist and I took a step back, "I came over to talk… Riku, are you drunk?"

"…No," he narrowed his eyes on me, taking another swig of the liquor.

"Right… I'll come back when you're sober," I told him, turning to leave.

But he grabbed my arm and yanked me into the house, "No, you're here already. Talk."

I snatched my arm back, stumbling to keep myself upright as he slammed the door and faced me, "It's going to be pointless now, Riku… you probably won't even remember it in the morning."

"I told you I'm not drunk!" he shouted, startling me a little. "C'mon… we'll go to my room."

I reluctantly followed him down into the basement where his bedroom was, sitting down on the corner of his bed. "…Did you notice anything different about me?"

He studied me for a moment, raising an eyebrow, "What, did you get your hair cut? Don't pull that coy bullshit with me, Kairi…"

"I'm talking about the huge bruise you left on my face, asshole," I glared at him, "Or do you even remembering hitting me?"

"Oh boo-fucking-hoo… you're fine. Now tell me what the fuck you wanted this late at night."

I shifted uncomfortably on his bed, "All right… Riku, I don't know who you are anymore. Why have you been such a jerk lately? You used to be so sweet and now… now all you do is fight with me and everybody else. Sora's like a lost puppy without you, but you're ruining your friendship with him and your relationship with me!"

"The fuck are you talking about? This is just who I am, Kairi. I haven't changed… it's who I've always been," he was slurring his words just a bit.

"I hate to break it to you, Riku, but it's not. This new personality of yours is like night and day with who you used to be. I hate it!"

He just brushed it off, taking another drink before setting the mostly empty bottle on his nightstand and approaching me, "Why did you really come here, Kai? Were you lonely? Did you just want to get in my bed? Hm?"

"What the fuck? No, Riku! I told you, I came here to talk about why you've been such a dick!" I scrambled backwards on the bed, but he kept advancing on me.

"Bullshit… you missed me, didn't you? We had so much fun last time we fucked, you're just dying for more, huh?"

I laughed sarcastically, using my hands to try and keep him at bay, "Back off, Riku. I'm not in the mood for this shit."

"Oh, I think you are though…" the grin on his lips was sickening.

"You're drunk and I'm pissed at you. There's no fucking way I'm going to sleep with you right now," I told him firmly, pressing my hands against his chest hard as he crawled over me.

He smirked, "Oh sure… right… that's why you wore my favorite shirt."

I looked down, "You used to hate this shirt because it was too revealing!"

"And you bought that shit? I'm a guy, Kairi. Did you really think I didn't want you to show off your tits?"

"Yeah, I'm done here… Get off, Riku, I'm leaving. This is absolutely fucking ridiculous," I shoved at him, using all of my force to try to push him off of me.

I let out a yelp as he grabbed my wrists hard and twisted my arms up above my head, pinning the upper half of my body against the headboard of his bed, "No, stay… Let's have some fun…"

"Ow… you're hurting me, Riku!" I whimpered softly, struggling to free my wrists from his steel grip.

"Oh you're fine… stop complaining," he growled, leaning down and catching me in a forceful kiss.

I fought against him to pull away but he had my head crammed back against the headboard and I literally had nowhere to go. He was kissing me so hard I could feel my teeth cutting into my upper lip, and it was bringing tears to my eyes.

"Jeez… you're a fucking bundle of fun tonight. Lighten up," he commented, dropping my arms but using his weight on my lap to keep me in place.

I stretched my arms out carefully, hissing at the pain in my joints, "I want to go home, Riku… please let me leave."

"Come on, at least let me get off… It's your fault I'm horny now."

"I didn't even do anything!" I exclaimed, squirming under him to try and slip my hips free of his.

He let out a bark of laughter, "You're doing it now, rubbing up against me like that!"

"I'm trying to get away, you jerk! I don't want to do this right now! Or ever again, for that matter!"

"You're so fucking dramatic, Kai… What, do I gotta take care of you first? Fucking women…" he rolled his eyes, starting to paw at my shirt drunkenly.

I clenched the hem of my shirt to keep it down but he just swatted my hands away and lifted it up along with the sports bra I was wearing. I'd been completely naked with him many times before, but right now it just felt wrong… "Riku, stop it! Just let me go home!"

"Will you quit squawking in my ear like that? Jesus, your voice is shrill…" he ignored my pleas, brushing his fingers over my nipples.

"I'm _squawking_ at you because you won't fucking listen to me, Riku! You need to stop now and let me go home."

Suddenly his left hand was clamped hard over my mouth, effectively shutting me up. I whined loudly, my mind going into panic mode as his other hand slipped beneath my sweatpants and under my panties. I thrashed myself against him, but he was so much stronger than me, even when he was drunk.

He went silent as he began to touch me, knowing exactly what I loved for him to do. But nothing could make this feel good right now… not even his notable skills at finding my best spots. My eyes became cloudy with tears as I struggled to breathe in my fight against him.

When he decided that I'd had enough, he started to yank my sweatpants down to my knees, then moving to unbutton his jeans. He tried to keep his hand on my mouth but ultimately needed it to get his pants off, leaving me to breathe in deeply and protest again, "Riku, stop! Please! I don't want to do this!"

As soon as he had his pants off, his hand came flying back up at me… but this time he caught me by the throat instead, wrapping his fingers around my neck and pressing down hard. My breath hung up and terror filled my eyes as he leaned down to sneer at me, "Shut the fuck up… now. You can leave when I'm done with you."

I was starting to hyperventilate, but every breath was becoming more and more shallow as his hand tightened around my throat even harder. If I couldn't calm down, I was going to pass out… but fuck if I was going to let him have his way with me while I was unconscious. I needed an out… I needed him to stop.

I clawed at him, shoved him, smacked at him… but nothing seemed to phase him in the slightest. My defense mechanisms were kicking in as my vision started to black out around the edges and my hands flew to his night table, looking for anything I might be able to use as a weapon against him. When they found the liquor bottle I grabbed it around the neck and lifted it, letting out a sob as I hit him with it as hard as I could manage.

The bottle exploded immediately, sending broken glass and whiskey flying over our bodies. I hadn't expected that… but my attempt for freedom worked. His grip on me loosened immediately as he fell to the side, hopefully to sleep this off and wake up with a hell of a headache.

I hurried to my feet, pulling my pants up and my shirt down as I tried to shake all of the glass off me. I was soaked with liquor, but I didn't care… I was free.

It wasn't until I checked to make sure he wasn't laying in glass that I noticed the blood… My first thought was that maybe a shard had cut him, or cut me… my adrenaline was so high that I could barely feel anything. I pulled him over onto his back and that's when I saw it… the huge gash on his head that was steadily pumping out blood. His white hair was matting with it, turning a bright and disturbing red. Had I… had I really done that to him?

My first instinct was to call an ambulance, but I couldn't find my phone anywhere, nor could I locate his.

"Fuck… okay, Riku… it'll be okay…" I mumbled, trying to lift him up off the bed and get him up to my car. …I couldn't even move his upper body. I dashed upstairs, trying desperately to find a phone somewhere… but I had no luck. They didn't even have a home phone anywhere. I ran back downstairs to check on him, only to find him losing color and becoming sickeningly pale. "Riku… wake up now, okay? Please?"

I put my hand over his chest, but I couldn't feel it moving anymore. I pressed my ear over his heart, but… nothing. As a last ditch effort I grabbed his wrist and tried desperately to find any kind of pulse.

My efforts were fruitless. Riku was dead… and I had killed him.

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 **A/N:** Holy shit… that chapter was so intense to write. Don't accuse me of hating Riku! I needed a bad guy, and… it was him or Sora, so be glad I chose him! I'm no happier about it than you. I warned you it'd be heavy at the beginning.

If you're on the fence about continuing to read this story, no… nobody else is going to die. Kairi isn't going to become some kind of freaky axe murderer. But that's all I'm saying! It's going to get super interesting here in the next couple chapters. …If you can get more interesting than an accidental murder.

If you like it so far, let me know by leaving a review! (Just don't flame me for killing Riku!) The next chapter will be out tomorrow, so follow if you want to see it!

Love you guys!

 _Simply Rexene_


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N:** Wow, I'm glad so many people are liking the story already! I wasn't sure what to expect when I started it out so insane right from the beginning. Thanks guys!

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 **Chapter Two**

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"Riku…" my mouth could barely form the word as fresh tears sprang up in my eyes. As much as I hated him for what he was trying to do, I would always love him… at least, who he used to be. I hadn't meant to kill him, I just wanted him to stop…

Nobody would believe me. As far as anybody knew, Riku and I were happy and in love all this time. Selphie was the only one that knew the whole story. Selphie… she would help me, right?

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I stood up, dashing up the stairs to leave. I had to run. There was no way I would survive a trial on this… they had every bit of evidence against me. Running was my only option… even though I knew deep down that it would catch up with me eventually. I had to leave everything behind—my parents, my friends, my life… There's no way I could face any of them after this anyways.

As I ran out the front door I heard something crack under my foot, looking down to find my cellphone laying on the front porch. I must've dropped it when he dragged me inside… I knew that I should call the police, let them know that he was there… but if I did that, they were sure to catch me. Instead I picked it up and used the half shattered screen to dial Selphie's number.

"Selph… pick up…" I mumbled as I got in my car.

"How'd it go? Did he see any reason?"

I was already bawling my eyes out as I backed down the driveway, "I did something bad, Selphie… Really bad… I need to see you… I don't know what to do…"

"Whoa… calm down, Kairi! It'll be okay! Come over, we can talk about it at my house."

"N…no… I need to get out of town. I can't stay here… I don't know when they'll find him and I… I need to be gone…"

I could tell she was putting the pieces together, "Shit, Kairi… what did you do?"

"It was an accident! I promise! Selph, he was trying to rape me and… and I hit him with the bottle and… I didn't mean to!"

"Kairi… did you…? Is he…? Did you kill him?" she whispered into the phone, keeping her voice hushed.

I was completely fucking hysterical by then, "I can't go to prison, Selphie… I would never make it…"

"But… it was self defense, right? Just tell them that! They'll cut you a break!"

"Who would ever believe me that Riku would do something like that? As far as anybody knows, he's one of the nicest guys in town! Nobody but us had ever seen his dark side! And Sora… but there's no way he'd ever testify against his best friend! Even when he was treating him like shit, Sora would follow Riku around like a little puppy. It's my word against the world… and that's a battle I'll never win, Selphie…"

She sighed heavily, "Shit… Kairi, they're going to find you, though. You can't run forever! You're 17, for God's sake!"

"What am I going to do?" I repeated, desperate for any kind of solution.

"Wait… I might know somebody that can help. His parents are friends of the family… It's kind of a long shot, but do you know how to get to Twilight Town?"

I thought for a moment, "I think I could figure it out… that's hours from here, right?"

"Exactly. Head out that direction… I'll leave now and meet you there. If anybody can help you, this guy can."

"I'm confused… how would he be able to help me? Is he one of those mafia creeps that can get you a new social security number and all that? I don't know, Selph…"

She laughed, "No, no… It's nothing like that. Just trust me on this one, okay? Go to the outskirts of Twilight Town and abandon your car somewhere… that's the first thing they'll look for. Then take the train into town and find somewhere to lay low in the station. I'll meet you there as soon as I can, all right?"

"Selphie… you realize you could get in serious trouble for helping me, right? I mean… I'm a murderer," the words sounded foreign rolling off of my tongue.

"Hey, I know nothing. If anybody asks, I was on my way to visit an old family friend when you went nutso and offed your boyfriend. I have no idea where you are or why you would do it."

I rolled my eyes, getting on the freeway towards Twilight Town, "You're so sensitive, Selphie… But… thank you. I'm glad you didn't freak out and turn me in…"

"You're my best friend… and I believe you one hundred percent that what you did was in self defense against him. Don't worry, Kai… he'll be able to help you. I know it."

"So… I'll meet you in what? Three, four hours?"

"Yeah… I'll call him and let him know we're on our way. You're lucky my parents are never in town, or I wouldn't be able to just up and leave like this!"

I really was lucky… lucky that I had a friend like her. She would stand by me through everything, and I would stand by her. I was half-amazed that she didn't offer to help me bury the body somewhere, honestly. I felt terrible just leaving him there in his bed… but I wasn't strong enough to move him anyways.

The drive to Twilight Town was incredibly long… giving me way too much time to think about what I'd done. I cried until I couldn't cry anymore, and then I just dry-heaved every time I thought about him. It kept hitting me in waves where I would truly realize what I'd done and what it meant for me. My life would never be the same… I would never see my parents again, though they would hate me if I did… I'd never see Sora, or anybody else from school… God only knows what rumors would float around about this. They'd probably say I was crazy… that I snapped and killed an innocent man.

By the time I reached the edge of Twilight Town I felt like I was going a little insane. My eyes were dry as hell and bloodshot, my stomach was churning and upset and I had a headache that rivaled the worst of migraines. Thankfully Twilight Town had a very small population, so I wasn't at too much of a risk to get caught dumping my car.

Dumping my car… what the hell was my life turning into?

I found an abandoned car lot filled with tons of crap cars that looked like they'd been sitting there for years and years. It was perfect… I pulled my car into an open spot in the back and got out, shivering at the cold. I opened the trunk and grabbed a hoodie and the blanket I kept for emergencies, then grabbed a screwdriver from the toolbox my dad had left in the back and popped both of my license plates off, throwing them into another one of the abandoned cars across the lot under one of the seats.

"Christ… what made me even think of that?" I wondered as I headed back to my car, taking my purse and my cellphone along with the blanket. Thank God I had some cash on me… It should be enough for a train ticket and anything else I might need. Food was out of the question… I already felt like throwing up my guts. But I might need a change of clothes and some water at least. I was incredibly dehydrated from my crying, and I reeked of booze from the broken whiskey bottle.

My hoodie covered the blood on my shirt as I started walking down the sidewalk to the train station. It seemed like this part of town was almost abandoned completely, which just made it easier for me to fit in. Just in case they were already looking for me, I kept my hood up over my head, hiding most of my face. My phone remained silent, so I had a feeling that nobody had found him yet. Knowing my mom, the first thing she would do was try to call me.

Actually… I probably needed to get rid of my phone as well. I took out a pen and scrawled Selphie's phone number on my arm and disassembled my phone, snapping the SIM card in half and tossing all of it in a nearby garbage can. I'd buy a TracFone at the nearest convenience store and give her a call…

It was scaring me how much I was thinking about this. My mind kept racing through movies and TV shows I'd seen where people tried to hide from the law, but they always ended up getting caught no matter what they did.

I found the train station pretty easily, as it seemed to be one of the only functioning businesses still in the area. It also held the only convenience store for miles that was still in business, so I headed for that first. I was a bit nervous to go inside because I looked so shady in my hoodie, but judging by the people that were already inside… I'd fit in just fine.

I grabbed a couple of big bottles of water, a new t-shirt and a little pay-as-you-go flip phone with a month's worth of service. Hopefully I just looked like a tourist who was lost… but nobody seemed to be on alert or anything. Everyone was pretty zombie-like there, just moving through life.

As soon as I paid for my purchases and got my phone activated under a fake name, I gave Selphie a call.

"Hello?"

"Hey… it's Kairi. I had to ditch my phone. They can track them…"

"All right, well I'm about half an hour from Twilight Town. I packed some stuff for us before I left. I haven't heard anything from Sora or anybody, so I'm guessing that they haven't found him yet. His parents probably won't be back until morning anyways… so I'm guessing we have a pretty good window of time before they put out a warrant for your arrest."

I fumbled with the machine that dispensed the train tickets, trying to get it to take a crumpled up ten dollar bill and failing. "This is insane, Selphie… I feel like a hardened criminal already."

"Well… you kind of are, sweetie. But we're going to fix it. I talked to my friend and he's already got an idea in mind for how to help you out. You might not like it though…"

"What is it?" I asked her, thumping on the side of the machine as it finally sucked in the money.

"I…I'm going to let him explain it to you. It's going to suck… and probably be incredibly painful… but it'll get you off the hook for good. There's no way anybody would ever find you."

My curiousity was peaked as I grabbed my ticket and sat down in the corner to wait for the train. "Jeez, it doesn't involve plastic surgery, does it?"

"Not quite…" she chuckled a little, "Where are you now?"

"I'm waiting for the train to Grand Central Station. That's where we're meeting, right?"

"Yeah, I'll pick you up in my car outside. I'll just give you a call when I get there. Your train ride should only take about 20 minutes, so you won't be waiting too long."

I was so grateful to have her… "You're the best, Selph… seriously. I'll see you then."

Now all I could think about was this guy's plan to help me… Painful? What, were we going to burn my fingerprints off? Disfigure me so I was unrecognizable? I was incredibly nervous…

When I sat down on the train it hit me how exhausted I was… it had to be two in the morning by now, easily. I wouldn't be able to sleep, of course, but it did feel nice to just sit there for a little bit. I draped my blanket over myself and just tried my hardest to relax on the ride over.

Even as I got off the train, nobody seemed to pay any attention to me. Grand Central Station was gigantic… and much busier, even so early in the morning. It was easy to lay low… especially with some homeless people scattering the edges of the station. Homeless… I guess I was homeless now too.

It wasn't long before Selphie called me, and I was so grateful when I saw her pull up in her little Volkswagon Beetle. She got out and flung herself at me, wrapping me in a huge hug. "Kairi! …Ew, you smell like a distillery. Have you been drinking?"

"No… Riku was. That's what I …it was with a whiskey bottle," I mumbled, staring at the ground. "Thank you so much for meeting me out here…"

"I won't be able to stay for more than a day or two without raising some flags… Jeez, you look like shit… How're you feeling?"

I narrowed my eyes on her, "I feel like shit, Selphie… Look, can we just go see your friend now? I want to get this over with… I think if he can't help me I'll just turn myself in. I'm not sure if I can do this for much longer… Sneaking around, throwing away cell phones, abandoning cars… It's fucking insane."

We both got in her car and she pulled out of the parking lot, heading for his house. "He seems pretty confident that he has a solution… Don't give up yet, Kairi."

"Right…" I huffed, staring out the window as she turned into a more rural part of town. I was skeptical that this guy was going to be able to help me at all. Really, what could he do?

Only a few minutes later she was pulling into the driveway of a cute little house in the middle of a small development. She got out and ran to the front door, ringing the doorbell a few times while I wrapped up my blanket and grabbed my purse. Whoever answered was attacked with one of her hugs, then dragged over into the driveway to meet me.

It was kind of hard to see him in the dark, but his green eyes cut through the night and shined down into mine as he grinned, "You must be Kairi… it's nice to meet you. Name's Axel, best witch doctor around. Got it memorized?"

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 **A/N:** Dun dun dunnn! Who knew Kairi would make such a good criminal, right? And ooh, Axel is our witch doctor! Sexy powerful man…

Thanks for the reviews! Keep letting me know what you think!

Love ya!

 _Simply Rexene_


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N:** I'm so happy that you guys are enjoying this story so much already! We haven't even gotten to the best part yet! Now… lets see what Axel has to offer our little criminal. :3

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 **Chapter Three**

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I craned my neck up to watch Axel as he smiled down at me as if we were meeting up to go get ice cream, and not to hide me from the police. "Uhm… nice to meet you too?" I offered awkwardly, starting to shiver again from standing outside.

"Well don't be shy! Come on in. Ignore the stoner on the couch. He's my roommate," Axel shoved us through the front door, where there was indeed a blond guy sprawled over the couch.

"Whoa… is this her? No way this chick killed someone," he sat up, scanning his eyes over me.

I shot a glare over at Axel, "You told him?!"

"Well yeah. He's my …assistant. Sort of. Introduce yourself, asshole."

He rolled his eyes and extended a hand to me, "Demyx."

"Right… can we get this over with?" I ignored Demyx and turned to face Axel, finally able to see him in the light. He was incredibly tall and thin, and he had a bit of a tribal look going on. His long red hair was kind of spikey but also had some small braids in it with beads and feathers tied in. The most obvious of his tattoos were the little inverted triangles under his eyes, but he also seemed to have some tribal symbols and bands on his arms. He seriously did look like a witch doctor… but those didn't exist, right?

"Slow your roll, Red. We've got a long ass night ahead of us, so you might as well get comfortable. In fact… why don't you go shower and change clothes? You kinda reek like booze…" he wrinkled his nose, his eyes scanning over me.

I huffed a little, "Hey! I kind of had a shitty night, you know!"

"Which is exactly why you should shower!" Selphie was already digging through the bags she'd brought and shoving clothes into my arms, "Seriously, go clean up."

"I can show her where the shower is," Demyx smirked, lounging back on the couch.

I shuddered a little, "No thank you… just point me in the right direction and give me a towel."

"Down this hall, first door on the right. Towels are in the cabinet. We'll talk after you're all clean."

As I undressed in the bathroom I caught sight of myself in the full length mirror hanging on the door. The bruise on my cheek was turning an even darker purple than before, and I had tons of little scratches from the broken glass that had fallen on me all up and down my upper body. I looked like hell… and I felt even worse.

The shower did feel good, though the second the hot water hit me I found out that I had a piece of glass lodged in my side that I had to pull out. How had I not felt that before…?

Finally feeling a tiny bit better, or at least much more refreshed, I put on the tank top and shorts Selphie had given me and headed back out to the living room to find Selphie and Axel deep in conversation.

"And you really think it'll work?"

"She's not going to like it… but they sure as hell won't be able to catch her if she's no longer …her."

I cleared my throat, "So…?"

"All right… have a seat," Axel gestured to the recliner, where I curled up to listen. "The way I see it, there's only one way to make sure you're never going to get caught by the police. We simply have to make you somebody else."

"I… I don't understand."

"I have a brew that can give you an entirely new appearance. And I'm talking more than just some hair dye. It'll change everything… Your hair, your eyes, your skin color, your height, build, weight, fingerprints, everything. You will quite literally become a new person. You'll just need a new name and… nobody will ever suspect that you're you."

I thought about it for a few moments. It would definitely work… but at what cost? I liked myself! "Will it hurt…?"

"Well… yeah. And it's not exactly going to be a pretty process either," he told me, "But it's the only help I can offer you. I don't have power over life and death, so I can't bring your boyfriend back… and I don't have control over people's memories, so I can't make people forget everything either."

"Okay… so… basically I have no choice… Right…"

Selphie frowned, "You asked for help, Kairi… Axel puts a lot on the line every time he uses his power."

"This is insane…" I groaned, hugging my knees to my chest, "This is just a dream, and… and I'll wake up and Riku will be fine and I won't be sitting in a stranger's living room discussing my new face…"

"Right…" Axel gave me a strange look, "Maybe you should sleep on it. You look exhausted."

I nodded, "Yeah... Though trying to fall asleep while also deciding whether to turn myself in to the police or give up my entire life isn't going to be too fun…"

"Isn't that kind of the same thing though? Seriously… you can either rot in prison forever or give up something as menial as your appearance and be free!" Selphie told me, and she did have a point.

"What would I do though? I'd be homeless… I wouldn't be enrolled in school, and… I'd lose all of my friends. …Except you. But poor Sora…"

She snorted, "And you think you won't lose him when he finds out what you did to Riku? Come on, Kairi… I'll just bring you home with me and tell my parents I found you living on the streets or something. They're a sucker for a good publicity stunt, so taking in a homeless orphan would be right up their alley. And hey, maybe you can come to boarding school with me!"

I looked up at her, "…Boading school? But what about Destiny High? Were you not going back this year?!"

"I… I was going to tell you next week… but they're sending me to a boarding school in Hollow Bastien this year. They're going to be out of town too often and they don't trust me to stay by myself for that long."

"You know what? Fuck it. Either way sucks, so… do it. Change me," I finally gave in, knowing deep down that it was my only chance to have a halfway normal life.

Axel raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure…? Like I said, it's going to be incredibly painful and uncomfortable. Also, I've never really done this before, so…"

"Yeah, so… maybe don't tell people that until after you've done it?" I suggested, "But I don't care… it's this or the police. What do we have to do?"

"You… need to relax as much as possible. I have to go work my magic in the kitchen. Stay put and try not to stress out too much, got it?" Axel stood up, heading into the kitchen.

I glanced over at Selphie, "So… you'll be honest with me if my new body is really ugly, right?"

" _That's_ what you're worried about? Seriously, Kai, you're about to get away with murder."

"Fuck… I'm never going to be able to sleep again…" I muttered, yawning heavily. I couldn't even imagine the kind of nightmares I'd be having until the end of time.

We could hear Axel banging around in the kitchen, but what we weren't expecting to hear was a huge exploding sound. "Shit! Demyx! A little help?!"

We all got up and ran into the kitchen, finding Axel wrestling with some kind of slime-like creature that was wrapping itself around his arms. Demyx grabbed a frying pan and started beating the main body of it until it let him go. Axel scooted the pile of jello-looking goo into the pot he was using and stirred it up, giving us a sheepish smile, "I'd been keeping that guy locked up for a rainy day like this. Turns out I should've been feeding him."

"And I… have to drink that?" I stared at the pot, wondering what exactly else was lurking in there.

"Drink it, rub it on your body… you know, typical potion stuff. Hand me that clove of garlic there."

I whined a little, handing over the garlic. I hated garlic… "What does the garlic do?"

"Masks the taste of the slime monster. Seriously, that thing smells like sewage," he shrugged, tossing some more herbs and spices into the pot. Was he making a potion or a stew…?

"This is going to suck, isn't it?"

He smirked, "I warned you. Demyx, can you find me that bluish flower I dried out? I need one of the petals."

"But I hung it up in the bathroom! It's like the only nice picture we have!" he pouted, crossing his arms as he went to get it.

"Great… I get to drink a bathroom flower too…" I mumbled under my breath. Maybe I shouldn't have been watching this…

Axel looked over at Selphie and I, "All right, Selph… when Demyx comes back from the bathroom, I need you to take Kairi and draw a bath with the hottest water possible and put this in the water," he handed her a little vial of some kind of green powder, "Wait for it to dissolve, then have her strip and climb in. I'll have to instruct you further from the door, I suppose… That might make this a bit more difficult…"

"Oh fuck it… you may as well be the last guy to ever see my body naked," I rolled my eyes, not even caring remotely. I wasn't really into the whole "being ashamed of my body" thing like some girls.

"Fuck yeah!" I jumped out of my skin as Demyx exclaimed right in my ear.

I turned and glared at him, "I said _Axel_ could be there. And only because he's actually useful. You can stay as far away from me as possible."

"Jeez, you'd think for a killer you might be a little more fun or something…" he handed Axel the flower and walked away, hopefully to his bedroom where he'd be staying for the night.

"All right, Selphie. Take her to the bathroom now. I'm almost done."

I followed her back into the bathroom and stripped back down naked while she ran the bath. Once it was full she shut the water off and emptied the vial into the tub, waiting for it to dissolve. It turned the water a sickly green, but… I had no choice but to get in. The water was so hot that it hurt, but I had a feeling that it would soon be the only reprieve from the pain I'd be feeling.

Moments later, Axel came in with the pot of potion, a cup and a leather-bound book. "All right… are we ready, ladies?"

"Might as well be…" I mumbled, sinking further into the water.

He scooped some of the potion into the cup and handed it to me, "Down the hatch. …And try not to throw up. It won't work if you throw it up."

I almost went to smell it, but I knew that would be a bad idea so instead I pinched my nose shut and downed it all in one gulp. It made me gag… the taste was horrifying and the texture was just… thick and disgusting. "Okay… we need to hurry 'cause that might be coming back up…"

"All right… this might get a little personal… but…" Axel came up beside the tub and knelt down, scooping up some of the potion with his fingers and looking at me, "Sorry… I swear this is part of the spell…"

I lifted an eyebrow as he started smearing the goo in a cross shape over my chest, from the tip of my chin down to my belly button and across my collarbones. He then proceeded to mark my arms, hands, feet and legs with it as well, drawing lines that almost followed my skeleton. The last markings were on my face, putting lines under my cheeks, over my forehead and down my nose. Even in the water, the markings stayed in place… and it was starting to tingle.

"Okay… we're ready to begin…" he stood up and wiped his hands off, cracking open the leather book. "Hit the lights, Selphie… and then you can go if you'd like."

"Are you kidding? I'm staying here with her. She's going to need me," she told him, flipping off the lights.

Suddenly, with a click of his fingers, Axel was illuminating the pages of the book with his hand so that he could read. "When I start chanting you need to inhale deeply and sink completely under the water, okay?"

"Got it," I nodded, getting ready.

The moment he started to chant in some kind of odd foreign language I took in a deep breath and let myself slid under the hot water, waiting for something to happen. It took… longer than I expected. I was about to resurface and ask if it was even working when suddenly a huge cracking sound echoed through the room followed by a scream that tore from my throat. It felt as if my skeleton was being sawed in half. I sat straight up in the tub, unable to stop myself from screaming at the top of my lungs.

I caught sight of Axel out of the corner of my eye, and it was a sight just as terrifying as the pain I was seeing. He was levitating off the ground, his eyes glowing a bright green color as he continued to chant in a deep, gravely voice. Selphie was in the corner curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth and trying not to look.

The next pain hit me in a wave as I literally could feel my skin and muscle starting to melt away. I don't know how I continued to scream, but seeing my own bones changing length was not something I ever wanted to witness again.

But the world went black as I could feel my eyes burning away inside my head. This spell was literally ridding my body of it's appearance and regrowing a new one. I wasn't sure how much more I could take. I wasn't even a person anymore… I didn't even know what I was.

When my screaming stopped, so did my memory of what happened next.

x-x-x-x-x

 **A/N:** All right, so… that was interesting to write. Sorry it took a little longer, but… I haven't really written about witch doctor voodoo before. :P I was totally winging it, so don't bother asking if I had a reference for how the spell works! God, Axel makes a sexy witch doctor… Love that man.

Thanks for continuing to review! I really appreciate it.

Until next time!

 _Simply Rexene_


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